Al-Qaeda behind terrorism in both Iraq and Syria: Iraqi MP

Iraqis stand amidst the rubble of destroyed houses following a series of bomb attacks in the town of Taji, north of Baghdad which killed at least 42 people and wounded 40, on July 23, 2012.

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It is clear that there is direct connection between the events in Syria and the [persisting] insecurity in Iraq and those that conduct murder and bombings in Iraq are the same people who are currently engaged in bombing and killing the Syrian people.”
Iraqi MP Hakem al-Zameli

An Iraqi parliamentarian has tied the latest chain of terror attacks and persisting insecurity in Iraq to the foreign-sponsored unrest in Syria, insisting that the sources of the violence in both countries are the Saudi-backed al-Qaeda terror elements.
“It is clear that there is direct connection between the events in Syria and the [persisting] insecurity in Iraq and those that conduct murder and bombings in Iraq are the same people who are currently engaged in bombing and killing the Syrian people,” said Hakem al-Zameli, a member of Iraqi parliament committee on security and defense, Alsumaria Iraqi TV website reported Tuesday.
Al-Zameli went on to insist that “most of those (involved in terror) are members of al-Qaeda.”
The Iraqi parliamentarian further demanded that the Iraqi government and the nation’s security establishment take serious steps to “support Iraqi citizens by confronting the sources of insecurity.”
He also emphasized that in the past 10 years Iraq has been struggling against terrorism, led by country’s ministries of interior and defense.
Al-Zameli also suggested the Iraqi government should make efforts to import the latest devices for detection and seizure of explosives, since the existing machines in the country are only capable of detecting 20 percent of the variety of explosives.
At least 111 people, including security forces, were reportedly killed in bomb attacks and shootings carried out Monday in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the northern city of Kirkuk and 17 other towns.
Iraqi security and medical sources announced that a total of more than 235 people were injured in the attacks.
The latest attacks in Iraq marked the deadliest day in the country in two years.
Meanwhile, Syrian government forces clashed with armed groups in the southern suburbs of Damascus on Tuesday and engaged in retaking rebel-held areas in the country’s largest city of Aleppo.
The Syrian Army has also been able to retake control of several neighborhoods in the capital, including Tadamon, Qaboon, and Midan.
The major offensive against the armed groups comes a few days after a terrorist bomb blast left Defense Minister Dawood Rajha and several other high-ranking officials dead.
Syria has been the scene of violence by armed groups since March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including many security forces.
Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad. The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters.
MFB/JR/IS